Women’s Giro: Another win for Vos

Win number 2 for Marianne Vos in the Women’s Giro ahead of Lizzie Deignan in third; race leader Annemiek Van Vleuten safely through stage five of the Giro Rosa

Women’s Giro: Another win for Vos

Win number 2 for Marianne Vos in the Women’s Giro ahead of Lizzie Deignan in third; race leader Annemiek Van Vleuten safely through stage five of the Giro Rosa. The day came down to the first bunch sprint of the race, with Mitchelton-SCOTT guiding the maglia rosa through the 110km stage around Terracina.

It was a fast and attacking start to the stage, with several riders jumping out of the peloton in the opening kilometres. Two riders eventually manged to put some distance between themselves and the pack, but the day’s first climb spelled the end for their time out front. The ascent at Madonna della Civita also saw the bunch split, with around 50 riders unable to go with the pace set at the head of the field. CCC-Liv pushed the tempo as they looked to rid the peloton of the pure sprinters in the field.

Some attacks followed on the descent of the climb, but nobody could get away until Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) slipped away over the top of the final ramp before the finish. The former maglia rosa wearer pushed on down the descent as the race headed back into Terracina, but the chasing group were never more than 20 seconds behind, with Australian champion Amanda Spratt and Van Vleuten at the head of affairs.

Longo Borghini was eventually caught inside the final three kilometres, with the day set to end in a reduced bunch sprint. Stage three winner Marianne Vos (CCC Liv) was the fastest yet again as she sprinted to her second win, while Van Vleuten crossed the line safely in the bunch to retain her race lead.

Annemiek van Vleuten: “I think it was a really good recovery day for me, it was quite easy, I never got into trouble. The goal today was to not lose time and not expend energy, and we nailed those two goals. It was quite nice to see the girls around me all the time, and it was a good recovery day before the stages get harder again later this week.”

Lizzie Deignan: It was a bit of a strange day. We thought it would maybe be windy, but we were unfortunate that it wasn’t. That would have been great for our team as we’re so strong at the moment and need that team advantage. In the end it was CCC who lit it up on the main climb and dropped all the main sprinters. Me and Elisa were in a select group up front and attacked on the final climb. We formed a small group but actually Elisa just descended faster and went solo.

In the end, it was clear she was going to get caught and Ruth (Winder) and Ellen (van Dijk) set me up for the sprint. I came away with a third place, which for me in a bunch sprint is not so bad! I think our best tactic with Trek-Segafredo is always teamwork,” added Deignan. “We have a really strong team. Elisa is well placed on the GC and we’ll continue to have an open and aggressive tactic.”

Amanda Spratt: “It was kind of as we expected it, it was either going to be bunch kick or we thought a team like CCC-Liv might really light it up on the climbs to get rid of the pure sprinters, which actually we were fine with as well. After that it was quite an aggressive race and we had a sharp climb at kilometre 83 and Longo Borghini attacked there and that stretched out the group, luckily we had Annemiek and I in the group behind. Then after that it was just about looking after Annemiek and getting into the finish nice and safely.”

Stage
1. Marianne Vos Point jersey CCC-Liv 02:47:27
2. Lotte Kopecky Lotto – Soudal Ladies
3. Lizzie Deignan Trek-Segafredo Women
4. Coryn Rivera Team Sunweb
5. Lisa Brennauer Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling
6. Alison Jackson Team Sunweb
7. Sandra Alonso Dominguez Casa Dorada Women Cycling
8. Amy Pieters Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team
9. Jelena Eric Movistar Women
10. Vittoria Guazzini Valcar – Travel & Service

35. Elizabeth Banks Équipe Paule Ka
58. Hannah Barnes Canyon-SRAM Racing @ 21
75. Abby-Mae Parkinson Lotto – Soudal Ladies @ 10:36
87. Elizabeth Holden Bizkaia – Durango @ 10:36

OVERALL
1. Annemiek van Vleuten Mitchelton-Scott 15:23:00
2. Katarzyna Niewiadoma Canyon-SRAM Racing @ 01:56
3. Anna van der Breggen Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team @ 02:03
4. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig FDJ-N. Aquitaine-Futuroscope @ 03:03
5. Mikayla Harvey Équipe Paule Ka @ 04:21
6. Elisa Longo Borghini Trek-Segafredo Women @ 04:32
7. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio CCC-Liv @ 04:34
8. Mavi Garcia Alé BTC Ljubljana @ 04:38
9. Marianne Vos CCC-Liv @ 05:19
10. Elise Chabbey Équipe Paule Ka @ 05:36
11. Elizabeth Banks Équipe Paule Ka @ 05:56

Full Result Here: